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Economic Performance of Chongqing During the First Half of 2013

During the first half of 2013, Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and People's Government focused on improving the quality and efficiency of economic growth. Efforts were made to enhance and better regulation of economic performance and foster transformation. These steps ensured the sound momentum of economic development.

According to preliminary accounting results, GDP of Chongqing in the first half of 2013 was 584.051 billion RMB. Calculated at comparable price, GDP registered a growth of 12.4%. In terms of different industries, the added values of three industries, namely, primary, secondary and tertiary industry, were 29.351 billion RMB, 318.495 billion RMB and 236.205 billion RMB respectively, with year-on-year increases of 3.5%, 13.6% and 11.6%.

I. Industrial production picking up with each passing month and profit seeing sharp growth

In the first half of 2013, the total industrial output value for industries above the designated size reached 711.785 billion RMB, up by 15.0% compared with last year. The industrial added value for industries above the designated size climbed by 13.8%, exceeding the national average growth rate by 4.5 percentage points, ranking 4th nationwide. Grouped by industries, 35 out of the 39 industry categories in Chongqing witnessed an increase in total output value. Among them, the following industries experienced relatively rapid growth: auto-making industry, computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry. In the first six months of 2013, the output value of auto-making industry stood at 133.503 billion RMB, rising 19.9%. For computers, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry, the output value was 96.472 billion RMB, up by 45.3%. In terms of main products, 196 types of products of 29 sectors registered different levels of growth, and as much as 61.1% of the products witnessed growth. The increase in auto-making industry, engine, computer sets, plate glass and power generation was 15.0%, 16.9%, 22.9%, 42.0% and 13.2% respectively.

The main business income for industries above the designated size was 556.222 billion RMB from January to May, a year-on-year growth of 17.7%. The profit was 20.973 billion RMB, an increase of 42.2%. The profits for auto-making, electric apparatus, equipment manufacturing industry, and general-purpose equipment industry reached 6.7 billion RMB, 1.579 billion RMB and 1.439 billion RMB, growing by 100.9%, 6.5% and 5.7% respectively.

Over the first six months of 2013, the fixed asset investment in Chongqing was 453.116 billion RMB, up by 21.3%, which was 0.4 percentage points higher than the first quarter. Industrial investment saw stable growth, achieving an investment of 142.535 billion RMB, rising 15.3% and taking up 31.5% of total investment in Chongqing.

In the first half of 2013, the total social retail sales of consumer goods was 219.036 billion RMB, with a year-on-year growth of 13.5%, up by 0.2 percentage points over the first quarter. Calculated by the location of businesses, the total retail sales in urban areas and rural areas achieved 207.706 billion RMB and 11.330 billion RMB respectively, a growth of 13.5% and 13.9%.

Over the first six months of 2013, the total retail sales of commerce and trade enterprises above designated size was 136.914 billion RMB, rising 17.7% compared with last year, making up 62.5% of the total retail sales of Chongqing. The total retail sales of consumer goods of wholesalers and retailers amounted to 128.773 billion RMB, increasing by 18.1%. For hospitality and catering industry, the amount was 8.191 billion RMB, growing by 12.5%.

Foreign trade of Chongqing kept growing in the first six months of 2013, reaching 30.159 billion USD in total, a year-on-year growth of 20.4%. The volumes of export and import were 20.966 billion USD and 9.193 billion USD, increasing by 15.5% and 33.4%. The actual amount of investment in foreign nations (including overseas loan under domestic guarantee) was 430 million USD, up by 1.1 folds. The total turnover of foreign contracted projects was 308 million USD, an increase of 47.1%.

In the first half of 2013, an additional 87 investment projects were signed with foreign investors. The total investment value signed with foreign investors was 820 million USD. Foreign investment of 4.208 billion USD was in place, growing by 20.0%. A total of 227.150 billion RMB of domestic investment was utilized, climbing by 5.9%.

Consumer price increased by 2.5% compared with the previous year during the first half of 2013. The amount of increase was 1.1 percentage points lower than over the same period last year. Over the first six months of 2013, Producer Price Index for Industrial Products (PPI) decreased 1.7% on a year-on-year basis. The Purchasing Price Index for Industrial Products decreased by 2.1%. Calculated by producer price of means of production and means of livelihood, the figures went down by 1.7% and 0.2% respectively. In June, PPI dropped by 2.9% compared with the previous year and declined by 1.5% over last month.

VI. Steady increase of residents' income and consumption

The disposable income of urban residents reached 12,823 RMB, a year-on-year growth of 9.0% in the first six months of 2013. Meanwhile, the per capita consumption of urban residents was 8,982 RMB, increasing by 7.9% compared with the previous year. A further look at the consumption structure revealed that spending went up in eight categories. The consumption on the following four areas including clothes, housing, healthcare and education& culture & entertainment & service witnessed a growth of 9.2%, 12.0%, 10.8% and 13.3% respectively. The per capita consumption by rural residents was 2,142 RMB, up by 11.4%.

In the first half of 2013, the budget revenue of public finance of Chongqing amounted to 85.647 billion RMB, with a year-on-year growth of 14.1%, which was 0.2 percentage points higher than the first quarter. The tax revenue was 56.608 billion RMB, increasing by 12.4%. The budget expenditure of public finance of Chongqing was 121.888 billion RMB, rising by 13.8%. The spending on community affairs in urban and rural areas, social security & employment, education and ordinary public service was 23.408 billion RMB,20.227 billion RMB,15.222 billion RMB and11.496 billion RMB respectively, which made up 19.2%,16.6%,12.5% and 9.4% of public expenditure.

In the end of June, the balance of local/foreign currency deposit in financial institutions in Chongqing was 2204.877 billion RMB, an increase of 21.7% compared with last year. The balance of local/foreign currency was 1728.892 billion RMB, growing by 19.1%. The newly-increased local/foreign currency deposit reached 261.611 billion RMB and an additional of 166.654 billion RMB local/foreign currency credit was generated. Loan-to-deposit ratio of Chongqing was 76.9%, which stood close to the figure of first quarter, namely, 76.8%.

Generally, Chongqing's economy displayed sound performance in the first half of 2013. In the future, this momentum will be maintained with the efforts of the Municipal Party Committee and People's Government to regulate economic growth, guarantee the supply of means of production, increase market demands, and create a more dynamic market and real economy.